BAD NEWS - Ebay make all auctions Private Bidders

leftyguitars · Post by **leftyguitars** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:42 am

A change in Ebay policy has made bidder identities private to all except the seller. This is bad news for those who are being scammed by fake auctions as it is impossible to warn them anymore!
You also can't watch for "shill bidders" who regularly bid up their own auctions.

leftyguitars · Post by **leftyguitars** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:45 am

Here is one of my auctions...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMESC%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170054476819&rd=1&rd=1

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:54 am

I have noticed this on one UK auction...my USA auctions are unchanged, though.

leftyguitars · Post by **leftyguitars** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:55 am

Message on the top of my auction which only I can see...

As online shopping evolves, eBay continues to focus on preserving our marketplace's open and level playingfield whilst protecting our Community of members. We have decided to change how bid history information is displayed so unscrupulous people cannot target bidders with fake offers using this information. If you are not the seller, you will no longer be able to see other bidder's User IDs on a listing page. If you are the seller of this item and are logged in, you will still be able to see the bidder details. Other members will see anonymous names, such as Bidder 1, Bidder 2 etc.

leftyguitars · Post by **leftyguitars** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:56 am

The other auctions that I have here in the UK haven't changed yet. The one above changed about an hour ago.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:57 am

So Forumites might be scratching and clawing over the same item and never know their opponent...

I can see this in terms of spam control, but why not go after the China losers that just spam all day and put up bogus auctions, or the idiot who emails me twice a day telling me about his musical instrument store in China, and that he wants to do business with me?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:01 pm

Like most changes, it seems like there are good points and bad points. But it'll be impossible to see if a friend is bidding on an item. This does change the landscape a bit...

On the good side, it has the potential for eliminating the rash of phony Second Chance Offers we've all had.

leftyguitars · Post by **leftyguitars** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:04 pm

it'll be impossible to see if a friend is bidding on an item

and warn him if you know that it is a scam auction.

kenposurf · Post by **kenposurf** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:09 pm

Actually....Now I'm on ebay mucho and it's been berry berry good to me..but..they are very aware and unhappy by the amount of biz that is transacted on the site that they don't get a piece of. In this case, it looks like they are trying to stop sellers who will contact a bidder during or after an auction to offer them the same item direct...Ebay calls this "fee avoidance" and I would guess a few other choice phrases..1,000 of items change hands on ebay daily under their radar and it drives em nutz!

leftyguitars · Post by **leftyguitars** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:17 pm

I can still see all the bidders details (if I am logged on) George, so I could still do that if I wanted to.

ajish4 · Post by **ajish4** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:45 pm

That should make the SHILL bidders' job a LOT easier!

wints · Post by **wints** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 12:48 pm

Not a good idea imo...

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:23 pm

Paul wrote:
"But it'll be impossible to see if a friend is bidding on an item."

If you look at the bidding history page of an auction, it has 'Bidder 1', 'Bidder 2', etc. All we have to do is say in the forum, "I'm bidding on such and such auction, and I'm Bidder 2".

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:34 pm

Yeah. I left out what I was thinking, "at a glance".

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:34 pm

I sold a guitar about two weeks ago and the guy who won my auction with a "buy it now" told me that he recieved a "2nd chance" offer.Kind of stupid to send a "2nd chance offer" to the winner but he was the only bidder so I guess the scammers didn't have a choice.I think this kind of activity is another thing that is driving Ebay to hide bidders identity.